Grace stared, appalled, as Brian's brave if ill-advised attempt to stop the 
Rejoining ritual went to hell in a handbasket.
   "NO!!" she screamed, throwing herself at the crowd and desperately elbowing 
her way through the press of Isconians.


Something penetrated the fog obscuring Brian Dempster's mind.  He blinked, only 
to find himself stepping off the edge of a cliff.  One foot was extending forth into 
nothingness, as if expecting support where there was none.
   Crying out as he stumbled forward, he heard two echoes of his own shriek of 
horror behind him as he twisted instinctively and desperately, reaching around to 
grab hold of something, anything-
   Amazingly, his hands flailed out, found and grabbed hold of a projecting chunk 
of rock embedded at the edge of the pit, and he hung there, trembling with shock 
and adrenaline.
   White with horror, Grace burst through the crowd and flung herself forward, 
ignoring everyone present, eyes only for Brian's peril.  She dropped to her knees 
at the edge and reached to grab his hands-
   -Behind her, a hand reached down, entwining itself in her hair.  She cried out 
in surprise and pain as the Master viciously yanked her to her feet and restrained 
her.
   She squirmed around, her eyes darting to first glance over at the Doctor, then 
around to the surrounding Isconians.
   "Why don't you all stop him!  Can't you see how twisted he is?!" she shouted.
   "Well!" the Master exclaimed, an expression of almost ecstatic triumph on his 
face.  "Now that we are all reunited, let the Rejoining proceed!"
   The Doctor leaned forward, involuntarily blurting out one heart-felt word.
   "Don't-!"
   "After all that has occured between us, you would have the audacity to ask that 
of me, Doctor?" the Master said softly, shaking his head in disbelief.
   "First him," he declared, pointing to Brian where he hung, "then her," he said, 
shaking Grace, "and then, finally, you."  He pointed at the Doctor where he was 
trying to twist out of the grip of his guards, a look of fearful intensity on his face.
   "Isn't that right, Baranac?" the Master snarled, directing a glare at the Isconian.
   Baranac stared back at the renegade Time Lord, glanced momentarily at the Doctor, 
at Grace, then over at the pit where Brian's hands could be seen, still gripping the 
edge of the crevice.
   Baranac looked back to the Master.  "Yes," the blue humanoid replied expressionlessly.  
He abruptly strode over to where Brian, his body shaking with the effort it took to 
hold on just a few more seconds, desperately clung.
   "Baranac, don't!"
   Grace's eyes were welling with involuntary tears.  The Master took hold of her 
chin, turning her head so as to force her to watch as Baranac reached down to dislodge 
Brian's grip-
   -as Baranac reached down, grabbed hold of Brian's almost nerveless arms, and 
hauled him up back over the edge to safety.
   The Master gawped.  What?!
   The next instant, strong hands grabbed him from behind.
   Caught utterly off-guard, he twisted, snarling.  Grace, released, stumbled away.  
Infuriated, the Master struggled fiercely, but the two Isconians who had taken hold 
of him were a match for his strength - barely.  Out of the corner of his eye, he could 
see that the Doctor had been set free.
   "What is the meaning of this?!"the Master snarled.
   Baranac was standing in front of him.  "You told me that although you were like 
the others, it was not yet your time to return, that the others had to be Returned 
despite their protests, that Shamileth tested us."  He shook his head slowly.  "Your 
disruptive behavior is proof that it is you who most desperately need to return to 
your source."
   The Master glared at the Isconian leader hatefully.
   "Return him," Baranac told the guards quietly.
   The villagers murmured in excitement as the guards quickly dragged the vainly-struggling 
Master to the edge of the crevice.
   The Doctor and Grace were crouched next to Brian where he was slumped on the 
cavern floor, regaining the feeling in his arms.  The Time Lord turned his attention back 
to Baranac and the Master just in time to see the two guards push the renegade out over 
the edge of the pit, as he shrieked out in fury.
   For once, the two rival Time Lords agreed on something.
   "NOOOOO!!!" they both screamed.
   Too late.  The Master tumbled down into the darkness and was gone.


The Doctor rushed to the edge of the crevice, his face crumpled in horror.
   "Oh, no," he whispered.  "What have you done?"  He glanced at Baranac, who 
stood nearby, similarly peering down.
   "He has been Rejoined with Shamileth," the Isconian said simply.  "It had to be done."  
He radiated no joy, no satisfaction; his was a mere statement of fact.
   The Doctor looked at him, pale.  "And the rest of us?" he asked steadily.
   Baranac tilted his head.  "I heard what that 'he' said, saw what it did.  And I heard 
what you and the others said and did.  It may be that, as you told me, it is indeed not 
yet your time to Return.  Unless you want to?" he inquired politely.
   The Doctor smiled gingerly.  "Erm, no," he said.  "Thank you for asking."
   A sudden low rumble down in the depths of the pit caught their attention.  The 
Doctor stared downwards in consternation.  "Oh, no," he groaned.  "It may be a 
moot point, at this rate.  I think 'Shamileth' is awakening now."
   Baranac looked at him curiously, his green eyes starting to glow with eagerness 
as the low rumble, almost a subsonic vibration, began to grow.  "The Awakening!" 
he exclaimed.  "Why do you look at me so sad?  It is this for which we faithful have 
labored!"
   The Doctor raised his voice to be heard over the increasing noise.  "Haven't you ever 
heard the saying 'Be careful what you wish for, you may get it'?"  Baranac stared at 
him, bemused, and the Doctor shook his head impatiently as the air current rising out 
of the pit sent locks of his hair fluttering.  "Never mind!  It's just that your god may 
not be as friendly as you might like - Great Ones have been known to be rather cranky 
when they first wake up!"
   He scrambled away from the edge of the crevice, leaving the Isconian leader behind, 
still peering down in anticipation.
   Grace looked up as the Doctor appeared at her and Brian's side.  "Grace!  Brian!" 
he shouted, "I'd say it's time for us to leave!"
   Grace glanced quickly around at the vibrating cavern and the fascinated Isconians.  
"Sure!" she said.  "Can we?"
   "Yes!  They've other things on their mind!"
   He helped his two companions to their feet, and they turned, searching for a way 
through the crowd-
   -only to find their way completely blocked.
   The villagers, ecstatically entranced, presented a solid line of bodies. They were 
moving forward, closer to the edge of the pit, and the three travelers were forced 
back towards the edge.
   "They're going to jump in," Brian exclaimed in dismay, "taking us with them!"
   The Doctor shook his head, staring intently at the Isconians.  "No, I don't think 
so..."
   The cavern walls behind them were suddenly bathed in a shifting rainbow of hues, 
and they quickly turned, startled.
   "...but I think we're going to have no choice but to meet Shamileth, too," the 
Doctor concluded softly.  He put an arm around the shoulders of his companions 
where they stood uncertainly on either side of him.
   "Well," he remarked, smiling slightly as he looked from one to the other, "it's not 
every day you get to meet a god.  Or, rather, an 'Old One'."
   "'Old One'?" Grace asked, gingerly.
   "Should we be saying good-bye, or something, is that what you're saying?" Brian 
asked shakily.
   The Doctor shrugged.  "To tell you the truth, I don't know," he admitted.  "I 
suppose it couldn't hurt-"
   Baranac gave a sudden shout and stumbled back from the edge of the crevice as 
the light streaming up out of the pit reached a blinding intensity.  Behind them, 
the Isconians echoed their leader in a wild, joyful cry.  The Time Lord and his 
human companions, their senses overwhelmed by the energy pouring out of the 
pit, cried out themselves, and crumpled to the ground.





To be concluded...








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